The Cuban Missile Crisis: As it worsened

On Oct. 16, 1962, The Herald News carried an Associated Press story that whispered of conflict somewhere in the world. What the press knew was that Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrei Gromyko would meet with American President John F. Kennedy.

On Oct. 16, 1962, The Herald News carried an Associated Press story that whispered of conflict somewhere in the world. What the press knew was that Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrei Gromyko would meet with American President John F. Kennedy.

What no one knew was why.

"The White House gives no clues as to what specific matters might come up for discussion.," the wire story said.

By Oct. 18, rumblings were being heard.

"The Pentagon has quietly shifted a squadron of 1,400-mile-an-hour Navy jet fighters to southernmost Florida," The Herald News was reporting.

On Oct. 19, all sources agreed that the big issue still facing the United States and the Soviet Union was Berlin, where America and Russia glowered at each other from a very short distance.

China, also Communist, was in a border scrap with India, an American ally.

Could that be it, could that be the source of the rumbling?

Illinois Senator Everett Dirksen didn't know.

"It could be Cuba,' he told reporters. "It might be Berlin. Maybe India has asked for help."

Like the war against terror, The Cold War was a war of decades, featuring hot spots that glowed and dimmed from Prague to Khe Sanh. Behind it all was the threat of nuclear war, a threat never before seen in the world but unleashed when the United States dropped nuclear bombs on Japan.

By Oct. 22, stories in The Herald News reported a "major international development was imminent."

The U.S. Navy cancelled war games off of Vieques, near Puerto Rico.

By Oct. 23, The Herald News was headlining it "Cuba In Crisis," printing maps of the missile installations

In Fall River, Rev. M. Webb Wright and his fellow Protestant pastors announced the ringing of church bells for peace.

"World Awaits Next Move In Crisis," the head line jittered on Oct. 24.

An Associated Press story noted, "sleepless, swollen eyes,' in the State Department Cafeteria.

On the same day, Pravda, the Soviet newspaper of record, bellowed defiance.

"The imperialist aggressors should bear in mind that if they kindle the fire of a world war, they will burn in it," Pravda editorialized.

As U.S. Navy ships blockaded Cuba, Castro warned the United States that its actions represented "the most dangerous adventure since the end of World War II.

On Oct. 25, Pope John XXIII issued a plea for peace and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushev called the U.S. Blockade of Cuba, "piratical."

In Prague, 1,000 Czechs marched on the United States embassy, chanting, the papers said, "Yankee Go Home."

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On Oct. 26, while the U.S. was waiting for Russia to withdraw its missiles, the U.S. Navy let the Lebanese-registered Marucla through the blockade after the ship had been searched and found not to be carrying contraband.

On Oct. 26, the first snow of the year fell on Fall River. just .18 of an inch.

Clare Engle, a California senator, wanted Cuba bombed.

And, on Oct. 28, The Herald News gave an Associated Press story a simple headline: "Downhill Plunge Toward Nuclear War is Halted."